Herding Structures in Northern Icelandnabo/publications/ipy/IPY_CK_Madsen_r… · Greenlandic...
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Fig.1 Steindyrarétt in Svarfadardalur
Herding Structures in Northern Iceland A Preliminary IPY Report of the Field Season 2008
Christian Koch Madsen
Saxo-Instituttet, University of Copenhagen
October 13 2008
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Introduction
In the summer of 2008 the author was able to travel to northern Iceland to work with archaeologists
and environmental scientists from Iceland, Denmark, Canada, US, and UK involved in three inter-
connected international projects in the Mývatn area, in Eyjafjörður, and in Vatnsfjörður, all of
which combined excavation and environmental science with survey and landscape analysis as part
of a long term collaboration of Archaeological Institute Iceland (FSI) and the North Atlantic
Biocultural Organization (NABO). The objective of this collaboration was to combine some of the
data generated from three years of archaeological work of the Vatnahverfi Project (another IPY-
project centred on Southwest Greenland), a master’s thesis on Norse enclosures and other herding
structures, and the connection of herding structures with other landscape features, zooarchaeology,
farm excavation, and isotopic analysis of human and animal diets in Greenland –a study which has
already begun to reveal intriguing results in better understanding the land use practices of the
vanished Norse settlements in Greenland. However, in order to fully understand this dimension of
Norse pastoral activities, a wider North Atlantic perspective is essential and in the summer of 2008,
such an opportunity was provided by IPY NABO funding. During three weeks the present author
visited three different regions of northern Iceland, trying to get familiar not only with the herding
structures, but also with the landscape and the more general dimensions of the archaeological
setting of Iceland. Since many of the results of this work as yet only are present as field notes,
sketches, uncorrected GPS measurements and an extensive photo archive in hands of the author,
this preliminary report will present the diverse fieldwork in the form of a shortened, illustrated and
commented diary. A formal report (Aldred and Madsen 2009) will present the full details of the
survey results. A publication in Journal of the North Atlantic (JONA) comparing patterning in
herding structures in Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands is planned as later product of this
study.
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Fig.2 Setting up DGPS base-station at Hlidarétt near Reykjahlid
Fig. 3 Secondary blocking of entrance to compart-
ment in Hlidarétt
Three Weeks of Fieldwork in Northern Iceland
22.6.-26.6.2008: Arrival in Reykjavik, Iceland, and transfer to Narfastadir in the Mývatn region, the
base for the team of specialists working at Skútustaðir as part of the Mývatn Project. Among these
was Oscar Aldred, who already had been working with réttir, i.e. historical (and medieval?)
communal herding facilities, in Iceland. The setup was that we should join forces and spend this
first week surveying as many réttir as possible (5 as it turned out) and discussing different ways in
which we might each use this type of structure in our studies of the North Atlantic herding
practices. As most of the practical results of this week of field work have already been presented in
another preliminary IPY-report, by O. Aldred and present author, only certain aspects relating to my
own personal studies will be relayed here.
One of the most interesting aspects of the réttir that immediately appeared to us was the many
different construction phases of these structures: enlargement or adding of enclosures, extension of
walls, blocking off entrances etc (see e.g.
fig.3). At Hlidarétt, for instance, it seemed
that we from mere close inspection of the
walls could trace a series of structural
developments, though such observation of
course needs historical or archaeological
confirmation. The dating of the réttir and
their phasing was planned as goal for a
potential 2009 field season.
One notable feature of seemingly all the
stone réttir was that the largest, central
enclosure seemed to be the first phase of
construction, was heavier build, and seemed
less liable to major rearrangement. Looking
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Fig.4 The two large enclosures of ruin group
E90 in Southwest Greenland
Fig.5 Sellandarétt (plan by
O. Aldred)
Fig. 6 New and old rétt located at the junction of the
valley Thorvaldsdalur and the river plain of Oxadalur
near Akureyri in Eyjafjördur.
at the Greenlandic example from ruin group E90 in the bottom of the Sioralik fjord, the size of the
ruins NO. 1&6, enclosing areas of 1519m2 and 1381m
2 respectively, and the dimensions of their
walls are not far from the larger of the surveyed réttir of Iceland (fig.5&6). Furthermore, the
enclosures of E90 are displaying trends towards the addition of features to the main enclosure, thus
hinting at similar developmental patterns as in Iceland.
These similarities reflect actual correlation, it raises two interesting possibilities: on the one
hand it seems possible that the enclosures of the fossilized medieval ruin landscape of Greenland
might represent an early development of herding practices with communal dimensions, an
observation which would have tremendous importance in our understanding of the Norse
Greenlandic societal organisation, the structure of which we might hint at from the use of these
structures in Iceland. On the other hand, the medieval date of some similar enclosures in Greenland,
might indeed suggest that the communal herding practices in Iceland may possibly be traced back in
time to at least this period. However, only further investigations of chronology and phasing will
reveal such patterns.
Another result of the survey and
discussions of réttir in Iceland was a
heightened awareness of the
topographical locality of herding
structures, both functional and social.
Although it is yet to disclosed, one of
the ideas of O. Aldred is that the rétt
possibly mirrors the community it
serves, the location of the individual
compartments pointing towards the
farm it serves and its size both
facilitating and signalling varying
degrees of wealth (i.e. flock sizes).
The restructuring of compartments in
the réttir certainly suggests this. On
the functional side, the topographical
location of the rétt reveals the natural
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Fig.7 Sheep shelter made in a natural volcanic outcrop at
Haganesgötur
Fig.8 Excavating at Myrkárdalur. Note the passage house in the foreground.
“herding corridors” of the landscape, i.e. riverbanks, valleys coming down from the highlands,
junctions etc. (fig.6). Such natural herding corridors may be established in the Greenland setting
also, possibly allowing for a better interpretation of the many different types of ruin groups found in
the landscape.
This first week also gave
the opportunity for visiting a
number of other herding
sites (e.g. fig.7) and some
time was also spend with the
team at Skútustaðir, either
helping out at the excavation
or familiarizing myself with
Icelandic soil types, new
excavation methods etc.
26.6.2008: Move from
Narfastadir, Mývatn, to
Akureyri, Eyjafjörður,
where the team working at
Möðruvellir as part of the
Gásir Hinterland Project was
based.
27.6.-4.7.2008: As the excavation at Möðruvellir was entering into its final week, much time was
spend helping to wrap up the field season of the Gásir Hinterland Project, which gave me great
opportunity to further familiarize myself with practices and methods in Icelandic archaeology. Very
rewarding were the 3 days of excavation at Myrkárdalur, a remote, abandoned farm in the
Eyjafjörður hinterland. Besides excavation, however, there was also time for a few excursions in the
vicinity.
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Fig. 9 View from the middle of Svarfadardalur towards the north. Note the farmsteads on each
side of the river, all of them located on Viking/medieval farm sites.
Joined by P.H.D.-student Astrid H. Bjørk and her research assistant, the 27.6.2008 saw an
excursion to Svarfadardalur southwest of Dalvik, where a number of sites were visited. This was a
great opportunity for correlating pedestrian survey notes with the actual ruins in the landscape. The
area around Eyjafjörður has seen almost complete pedestrian survey and would thus seem very well
suited for drawing in into a comparative study of herding structures and –practices. However, the
excursion Svarfadardalur revealed both plusses and minuses in this survey work, as well as gave an
insight into the topographical layout of farmsteads in this area of Iceland. One notable and
frustrating problem with the survey data from Eyjafjörður is the almost complete lack of chronology
and the present day use of old farmland. As most of the farmsteads in Iceland have been inhabited
from the Viking Age up to present times, buildings of all time periods (though of course mostly
later buildings) are found on the tún, greatly confusing our understanding of their chronology
(which in the Greenland setting at least is lessened by the abandonment of the settlements around
1450 A.D.). This makes it hard to discern developments in the shapes and functions of different
types of enclosures. These problems are also enhanced in areas such as those around Eyjafjörður,
where old structural patterns – especially those of less noticeable buildings such enclosures, sheep
shelters etc. – have been all but obliterated by modern farming.
3.7.2008 the author took 10km hike into Thorvaldsdalur, a narrow valley with its eastern
entrance opening down towards the Oxadalur river plain, exactly where Thorvaldsdalsrétt (fig.6) is
located. The valley was inspected to document its function as a natural herding corridor, as well as a
representative of the natural fauna the valleys of the Eyjafjörður region. Besides locating and
registering a previously unknown herding structure (65º46.171N, 018º22.824V), the vegetation at
different altitudes (measured with pressure altimeter) was registered and photo documented (fig.10).
Notes on this should hopefully ease and clarify the similarities and contrasts with the herding
situations in the Greenland setting.
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Fig. 10 The landscape and vegetation in Thorvaldsdalur at c.500m elevation. Note the snow in the
crevasses still present in early July.
Fig.11 Registering a newly located cairn in the
Vatnsfjörður highlands.
5.7.-7.7.2008: Weekend trip to Reykjavik. On the 7.7.2008 joining up with the team from FSI and
the students going to the field school at Vatnsfjörður, driving to the site.
8.7.-14.7.2008: Meeting up again with O.
Aldred and his colleague P.B. Heide, both
teaching the field school students in and
surveying the area around Vatnsfjörður, the
last week in Iceland was meant for
experiencing the landscape of the North-
western part of Iceland, which
environmentally is very similar to
Southwest Greenland. Furthermore, P.B.
Heide is doing a P.H.D. on, among other
things, cairns and is using Vatnahverfi in
Greenland, as a study area. As present
author was going to register cairns for him
later in the summer in Greenland,
discussions on this type of structure and its
functions and locations in the landscape was
much needed and welcomed. Thus, I joined
O. Aldred, P.B. Heide for a two day survey
in the high plains on the southern part of the
peninsula, at the same time as surveying
also noting and photo documenting the
vegetation at different altitudes.
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Fig.12 The tún and farm of Sveinhús in the foreground and Vatnsfjörður with its “step-
ped” hills in the background.
Fig.13 Foxtrap at 65º56.805N, 022º30.138V
As it turned out, Vatnsfjörður proved to be the most promising area in Iceland for comparing
with Norse Greenlandic herding practices; this owes not so much to the similarities of environment,
but just as much to the fact that it is very well surveyed, can be combined with archaeological data
(i.e. the excavation of the church farm at Vatnsfjörður) and has been much less disturbed by recent
farming than the other visited areas. Having decided to draw in the Vatnsfjörður area as a
comparative study area and joining forces with the staff of the field school, 6 enclosures were
surveyed with DGPS, described and photo documented (fig.14).
Another interesting dimension of drawing in the
Vatnsfjörður area is its location near to the coast
and the natural herding corridors created by this
topography. For instance, anticipating that the
stepped hills above the coastline near Vatnsfjörður
(see fig.12) may have functioned as natural herding
corridors, they were surveyed by present author,
which led to the discovery of a new stretch of wall
marked by a cairn (N65º56.812, W022º30.164)
closing of one of the “steps” of the hills.
Finally, the visit to Vatnsfjörður gave the
opportunity of registering and documenting three
stone built fox traps, another feature common to
both Northwest Iceland and Southwest Greenland.
Two of these (65º56.805N, 022º30.138V&
65º56.860N, 022º30.160V), were newly discovered.
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Fig.14 The 7 enclosures (white circles) and three fox traps (red triangles) surveyed in the
Vatnsfjörður area.
14.07.2008: Trip to Reykjavik
15.07.2008: Flight from Reykjavik to Narsarsuaq, Greenland
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Summary
Besides surveying 5 réttir, 7 enclosures, and 3 fox traps, helping out on 4 different excavations and
producing vast sets of notes and a large photo archive, the Iceland field season of the summer 2008
first and foremost opened the eyes of the present author to a range of new possibilities of
archaeological research in the North Atlantic material, as well as introducing him to a number of
peers, who with their knowledge and helpfulness, made this trip extremely productive. Thus, even
though most of the collected data awaits further analysis and comparison, it already forms the basis
of new research agendas and collaboration across the North Atlantic to be explored and expanded in
the future.
Acknowledgements
This collaborative study was part of the IPY international scholar-exchange program of NABO
(North Atlantic Biocultural Organization, www.nabohome.org) funded by the US National Science
Foundation Office of Polar Programs Arctic Social Sciences Program International Polar Year
Human Ecodynamics in the North Atlantic Project (OPP IPY 07322327) and by NSF dissertation
improvement grant to Ramona Harrison Gásir Hinterlands Project (OPP ARC 0809033) and by
support from Fornleifasjóður, Iceland. It is a product both of the NABO research cooperative and
the 2007-10 International Polar Year collaboration.